Sen. David Burns, of Whiting, is proposing a bill that would allow school employees to carry concealed guns at school.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) _ A Maine state lawmaker has proposed a bill that would allow teachers and other school employees to carry concealed firearms at school.

Republican state Sen. David Burns says he has been thinking of similar legislation for about a year but made his proposal in response to the death of 20 students and six educators at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last month.

Burns' bill would require school employees carrying concealed guns to take a firearms training course and undergo a psychological exam.

It would also require the approval of the local school board, superintendent and principal, as well as the notification of parents.

The bill would also give school districts the authority to hire armed security guards.

Burns is a retired state police trooper from Whiting in eastern Maine.